In Numbers: Who do Europe's 3.57 million residence permits go to?

"EU countries issued some 3.5 million first-time residency permits in 2024. With EFTA countries Switzerland (47,500) and Norway (23,600) included then the number reaches 3.57 million. This represents an 8 per cent decline - 315,000 fewer - than the 3.8 million issued in 2023, the year with the highest number ever recorded, according to data published by the EU statistical office, Eurostat."

"The decline recorded in 2024 can partly be explained by that fact fewer first residence permits for employment (-12 per cent) were handed out plus a drop of 6.5 percent fall in the number of permits given out for family reunifications. There was also a 10 percent drop in the number of permits issued for "other" reasons (see below). However permits issued for education purposes recorded a small increase (+0.8 per cent)."

"The highest relative decreases in new permits handed out were seen among citizens coming from Belarus (-38 per cent), Turkey (-13 per cent), Afghanistan (-10 per cent) and India (-9 per cent). As for issuing countries, the largest relative decline was reported in Estonia (-42 per cent), Malta (-30 per cent) and Poland (-24 per cent), with a significant negative trend also in Slovakia and Germany (-18 per cent), Finland and Slovenia (-14 per cent)."

European countries issued about 3.5 million first-time residency permits to non-EU nationals in 2024; including Switzerland and Norway the total reached 3.57 million. This was an 8 per cent decline, 315,000 fewer than the 3.8 million issued in 2023. First residence permits cover new authorisations for employment, family, education or other reasons and include status changes. Permits for employment fell 12%, family reunifications fell 6.5%, and permits for "other" reasons fell 10%, while education permits rose 0.8%. Origin-country declines were largest for Belarus, Turkey, Afghanistan and India. Estonia, Malta and Poland showed the biggest issuing-country drops, while Greece and Cyprus recorded increases.

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